A new polyethylene manufacturing facility is to be built in North Dakota, in a project that's said to be the largest private investment in the state's history.
Badlands NGL, LLC, and its partners plan to invest $4 billion to build the plant.
Governor Jack Dalrymple welcomed the investment and said that the project is in line with goals to reduce flaring, add value to North Dakota's energy resources within the state and create diverse job opportunities.
According to Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, this project has the potential to reduce most of the flaring of natural gas in the state.
The plant will make use of North Dakota's abundant supplies of liquid natural gas, converting ethane gas to low density and high density plastics. When completed in about three years' time, it will have the capacity to produce 1.5 million metric tons of polyethylene, or 3.3 billion pounds annually.
Badlands said that it intends to market most of the polyethylene products domestically, but some will go to markets in Asia, South America and Europe.
William Jeffrey Gilliam, CEO of Badlands, commented: "We are committed to maximizing the value of Bakken ethane for producers, their midstream partners and all gas processors. This facility is the solution needed to add value to North Dakota's ethane supply and make it a commercially marketable product."
